The Opening of Life

.. be bold and tell the real world that you are here to win! e4!
-basil

The Opening of Life.

In chess there are three phases of the game: the opening, the middle game and the end game. As a young person, you are in the opening of your life. You have the opportunity and power to determine how the rest of your life will unfold.

e4!

When starting a chess game, we’ve been taught to control the center, develop minor pieces and castle. These opening strategies translate directly into beneficial things like excelling in school, so that your employment and business opportunities are available in the best way possible.

Let’s look at a real example of how chess translates into life based on “e4″ as your opening move. With “e4″, you are saying “I’m here!” and that you are here to establish a foothold in the direction of your life. You are also saying “bring it on!”. When you do well in school, follow the advice of parents and have a desire to be somebody in life – you are essentially telling the world “e4!”.

Going to college is equivalent to getting all your pieces involved in the opening. If you don’t take advantage of college, you are essentially playing the game of life without all your pieces on the board. Some of you will go to different colleges and universities, some of you will have different majors – both of which will probably lead to different income opportunities.

You should think of these life variations and choices as different chess openings.

The black pieces have opening options like the French and the Caro-Kann both of which are thought of as very stable and solid defensive openings. If after college you intend to embark on a career as a lawyer or business executive these conservative approaches may be openings that fit your life and game playing styles. If you like to open your chess game with an English style opening (“c4!” as an example), you may be the type of person that wants to do research into quantum physics or discover a new gene therapy in health care. Or maybe as an entrepreneur, you may prefer yet another hypermodern style of opening that attacks the center from the outside (“b3″ as with the Queen’s Fianchetto Opening). These different styles sometimes have an advantage of confusing your opponents if they’ve never played against it. In real life, this could translate into a new approach to doing business, a new product, idea or patent that hasn’t been seen before. As a chess player, you will have the confidence of knowing exactly what you’re doing. And because you are “thinking differently,” you’ll more than often create an advantage which leads to tremendous success in life!

No matter which style you adopt, understand that the fundamental goals of the opening don’t change. It’s just a different style and approach toward achieving the same thing. Life is more complex than chess, but as a chess player you will have better insight into where you are going and what you will be doing! In the game, explore opening variations to find your style of play. In life, don’t be afraid to learn about new areas in business, science, math and technology that may suit your style. In both arenas, be bold and tell the real world that you are here to win! e4!